Back-Up Plan - Book 2 - S.E.

Asian F

"Five, six, seven, eight."

There they were again, in another Booty Camp, and, honestly, she had been enjoying it way more than she thought she would. Mostly, it had to do with the fact she was able to just dance around - which was something that she really enjoyed anyway - but, now, she could do it with her friends while silently judging them all in her head. Not that she would ever tell them that, of course.

And, besides, they were all really improving actually.

Well, expect Mercedes, who always seemed less than keen on practicing and that, that day, had not even showed up to Booty Camp at all. At least not after the other kids had been practicing for half an hour already.

"You're late." Mr. Schue said, as soon as Mercedes arrived at the auditorium that afternoon.

"I know." She said. "I overslept."

"It's 4:30 in the afternoon." Quinn frowned.

"My alarm clock went off 30 minutes late this morning. Kind of shifted my whole schedule." She said. "Anyway, what's Santana doing here?"

"I've re-sworn my allegiance to the Glee Club." Santana scoffed. "Without telling Coach Sue."

"Mercedes, I'll catch you up." Mike said, walking over to Mercedes and guiding her to the center of the stage where they started practicing the small little routine they had been working on all week. "Five, six, seven. Five, six..."

After a few steps and a spin, however, Mercedes gagged a bit and rushed to a trash bin nearby, as if she was about to throw up. Winnie widened her eyes in surprise, but before she could do anything at all, Mr. Schue had rushed to the girl's side instead.

"Mercedes, you okay?" He asked, as the girl groaned quietly.

"My stomach hurts." She whined. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Why are you babying her?" Santana spat, clearly annoyed by the situation. "I mean, she can't do three steps without puking 'cause she ate at Quizno's before she showed up in this joint."

"Mr. Shue, you have us scheduled to the second right now." Mercedes argued. "With school, Glee Club and Booty Camp, when else am I supposed to eat?"

"When the rest of us do." Santana said.

"Oh, like you eat!" Mercedes rolled her eyes at Santana.

"It's not about eating. It's about attitude." Mr. Schue said, stepping in before that fight could escalate even more. "Sectionals are coming up, and if we don't give it our all..."

"I am doing my best." Mercedes protested, as Mr. Schue shook his head.

"No, you're not." He said, as Winnie frowned at his words. "It's not about doing your best anymore. It's about doing better."

***

"Holy... Tina!" Winnie whined quietly after her mild heart-attack when Tina slammed her locker door shut while she was sorting through her books. "What?"

"Mike says she's not auditioning for Riff anymore." She said, almost out of breath, as Winnie frowned.

"Wait, what?" She asked. "No, he can't. We had a deal."

"He just said he doesn't think he'll do it anymore."

"I auditioned for Anita! He has to audition for Riff now!" Winnie protested, as Tina, clearly matching her outrage. "And besides, he was super excited about the musical at the start of the year. Why is he backing out now?"

"He said he's overwhelmed." Tina pouted a bit. "And... And he's got an A-minus."

"Oh..." Winnie nodded in understanding, knowing just how strict Mr. Chang could be when it came to his son's grades. "But... But an A-minus is not that bad. He can totally get that grade back. We can help him study!"